Netflix has reportedly won a bidding war for an upcoming Nipsey Hussle documentary from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay.
The streaming leader shelled out somewhere in the “teen millions” for the feature-length biography about the late rapper and community activist, according to a Monday report in The Hollywood Reporter.
Hussle was gunned down in South Los Angeles in March 2019 at the age of 33. The music star’s family is said to be on board with the documentary, which is set to be jointly produced by DuVernay and Hussle’s own Marathon Films.
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Netflix also released DuVernay’s award-winning miniseries When They See Us last year on the so-called Central Park Five. In the first week, the series was streamed by more than 23 million Netflix accounts worldwide.
Those keeping a close eye on all things Hussle might have seen the project from DuVernay coming.
At the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards last month, the producer-director introduced a musical tribute to the rap icon featuring John Legend, DJ Khaled, Meek Mill, Kirk Franklin, Roddy Ricch and YG. Hussle would go on to win two posthumous Grammys that night for his songs “Racks in the Middle” and “Higher.”
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Although DuVernay is best known for her historically-based feature films and television projects, she’s also an accomplished documentarian. In 2017, she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature for her film, 13th, which examined race in the U.S. criminal justice system.
During the lead-up to the Oscars, DuVernay participated on a panel discussing the subject with a variety of experts from the community — one of them being Nipsey Hussle, a local rap star who rose from the streets, but was also determined to provide opportunity and stop gang violence in South Los Angeles.
No word yet on the timeframe for the Hussle documentary, but music docs have become hot commodities in the streaming market.
THR says Apple recently ponied up a whopping $26 million for a film about teenage pop phenom Billie Eilish, and Amazon forked over $25 million for a doc about singer-turned-beauty and
fashion mogul, Rihanna.
